Thought for Marketing/Advertisers...

[92bDad]

These days we see the non-stop hype around Individual Superstars.

Commercials with Lebron, D-Whistle, Durant, Griffin, etc...

Perhaps this would be the time for a company, a brand to distinguish itself beyond the individuals...

Can you imagine a shoe company or any other company wanting to market itself to the masses...hiring the entire Dallas Mavericks TEAM to be featured and pitch their brand?

As much as America and the world loves its superstars, the concept of a team is truly magnified with the Dallas Mavericks and I believe a Team Championship would resonate with consumers and provide any "Brand" that aligns itself up with the Mavs could gain a strong fan/client base.

[Rick41]

It's a sad thing to say the players being marketed are bigger than the teams themselves.

America was rooting for us just to see LeFlop fail, but soon, no one outside of us will care about this championship.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by 92bDad

These days we see the non-stop hype around Individual Superstars.

Commercials with Lebron, D-Whistle, Durant, Griffin, etc...

Perhaps this would be the time for a company, a brand to distinguish itself beyond the individuals...

Can you imagine a shoe company or any other company wanting to market itself to the masses...hiring the entire Dallas Mavericks TEAM to be featured and pitch their brand?

As much as America and the world loves its superstars, the concept of a team is truly magnified with the Dallas Mavericks and I believe a Team Championship would resonate with consumers and provide any "Brand" that aligns itself up with the Mavs could gain a strong fan/client base.

I like the way you're thinking - don't know if it would sell, but I could certainly get behind the idea of a "team brand," especially being a fan of Dirk, who isn't much of an individual brand anyway...

[RareMilk]

I was thinking NBA 2K12 should have the 5 crunch time Mavs on the cover. Not an individual cover like Kobe or Garrnett, but like Fifa does it.

[orangedays]

Originally Posted by 92bDad

These days we see the non-stop hype around Individual Superstars.

Commercials with Lebron, D-Whistle, Durant, Griffin, etc...

Perhaps this would be the time for a company, a brand to distinguish itself beyond the individuals...

Can you imagine a shoe company or any other company wanting to market itself to the masses...hiring the entire Dallas Mavericks TEAM to be featured and pitch their brand?

As much as America and the world loves its superstars, the concept of a team is truly magnified with the Dallas Mavericks and I believe a Team Championship would resonate with consumers and provide any "Brand" that aligns itself up with the Mavs could gain a strong fan/client base.

A good idea, but I fear the cult of personality is too deeply ingrained a part of our social psyche for that type of advertising to work. Thinking back, how many successful, national media campaigns have been run around the team dynamic ('80 US hockey team (Miracle on Ice); '92 Dream Team; US Women's soccer after the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup (Mia Hamm + Brandi Chastain sports bra incident)) vs. individuals (MJ, Tiger, Bo, Lance, Phelps). Sidenote: Interesting how familiar we are with our pitchmen (bet you recognized every one of the guys I listed) while I had to footnote the teams, for my benefit and yours. Us Americans love our hero worship.

That, and also the logistics of working around existing contractual obligations. E.g., Jason Kidd is signed with a Chinese shoe company (Peak), Dirk with Nike (http://lockerz.com/s/110597777).

[orangedays]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I like the way you're thinking - don't know if it would sell, but I could certainly get behind the idea of a "team brand," especially being a fan of Dirk, who isn't much of an individual brand anyway...

The experts think like you:

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...d-hasselhoff/1

Here's an idea for selling soap on TV: "Wouldn't you love to see a commercial featuring David Stern washing out Mark Cuban's mouth with Ivory soap?"

Well yes, but it probably won't happen. But Bob Dorfman, a longtime sports marketing expert at the San Francisco ad agency Baker Street Advertising, makes that suggestion in his report on whose marketing prospects went up or down in the NBA Finals.

Dorfman says "there are no Slam Dunk pitchmen this year (given) Miami's Big Three damaged their marketability." And Finals' MVP Dirk Nowitzki, he suggests, isn't exactly mediagenic. Dorfman's suggestion: "Dirk should market himself as The Most Uninteresting Man in the NBA" and do stuff like shave off his beard for Gillette. Although, "Nowitzki's admission that he hums David Hasselhoff songs to himself during games would make an awesome ad for iTunes."

Noting LeBron James' many existing endorsements, Dorfman suggests he might be a smart buy for long-term advertisers despite his current "polarizing" stature: "At this low point in his career, he may actually be available at a bargain price" -- and he can always be "cast as a villain."